Regional Theatre Review: Ghost Stories

Do you believe in ghosts?

Perhaps the creaky floorboard on the landing has you hiding under the covers, or the dripping tap gets your mind racing. Ghost Stories takes any fears you have and multiplies it by ten in an extraordinarily tense performance that had me and the entire audience on the edge of our seats.

Written and directed by The League of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson, and Andy Nyman, co-creator of Derren Brown’s television and stage shows, it is more than just a stage performance, it’s a full-body experience. 

I saw the tour on its first night at Milton Keynes Theatre and even before the show began there was apprehension in the air with eerie noises and irregular clanging coming from the empty stage. I should have waited longer before going to my seat!

The theatre then plunged into complete darkness… gulp.

From the outset, Dan Tetsell as Professor Goodman engaged the audience, walking through the auditorium doors, breaking the fourth wall and asking the theatre if they believed in ghosts and the supernatural.

The performance uses real photographs to question ghost sightings, before the Professor introduces three classic tales for a modern audience. A night watchman in an abandoned factory, a young man whose car breaks down in the woods and an expectant father who fears something strange in the nursery.

David Cardy, Eddie Loodmer-Elliott and Clive Mantle play the respective victims of each haunting excellently. The three characters present a different attitude towards their own story and extreme but deliberate characterisations of certain traits, whether that is the sceptical and stubborn Tony Matthews, the anxious Simon Riffkind or the arrogant Mike Priddle.

The staging for each story is simple but brilliant, using realistic sets and props, including torches and mobile phones, to create a sense of being inside the story and really drawing the audience in. 

The tension was gradually increased through each tale, until it became so uncomfortable that I could feel my hands sweating, my fingers twitching and my eyes glancing around the theatre, trying to anticipate the jumps that I knew were coming. A member of the audience opened a soft drink can which resulted in large sections of the theatre jumping out of their seats - it was truly gripping.

Trying to anticipate the frights was pointless. On one occasion, I let out an involuntary noise which I don’t think I could recreate. Luckily I don’t think anyone else heard it through the range of squeals across the venue.

While audiences can attempt to judge what will happen next, the twist at the end of the performance was something I never could have expected. It was presented faultlessly by the small cast, with Tetsell giving a particularly notable performance. 

I will admit, I am not a horror fan and I approached this performance a little sceptical about whether I would enjoy it. However, what I saw was a very good, but terrifying production, created with excellent acting and brilliant staging.

Producers warn those with a nervous disposition to “think very seriously before attending” and I think that says everything you need to know.

If you like being frightened, this is the performance for you. If you don’t, but love the theatre, you might want to watch through your fingers. And if you have been talked into going by a friend, good luck.